Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1887-09-02

A
TOOK steps to intercept him, or to press
INN so closely as to prevent the thor
ough accomplishment OF his work Of
destruction.
SO, appearing to be beaten in the
contest before him, General Forrest
gatnered up all his forces, including
an details for scout and other duty
which were within call, and set out TO
capture that Teller, or to run him down
to the Dry Tortugas."
In short time the pursuit was be-
gun IN real earnest, the men entering a.
heartily into the chase as did thar nm
firing commander.
But a stern chase" is proverbially
"a long chase" and hero the bows had
the fullest veriication of the Old saw.
1or TWO days and nights elapsed before
tney were near enough to the enemy
10 discover, from various unmistakable
signs, that he was not far in advance.
The chase now became furious. and
we scarcely spent the time required for
making coffee and cooking other food,
around the campfire; for, now that
Colonel Strengths motives dawned up-
on us, every nerve was bent to thwart
his projects.
Nor was it long before the pace be-
gan to tell upon the horses in both
commands. Especially was this the
case with the horses ridden by the en-.
envy, as they were not Injured to forced
marches, made on empty stomachs, as
were to some degree our horses.
On reaching Blue River we were
much chagrined to discover that the
enemy had crossed before us and had
fired the bridge, the timbers of which
were falling into the stream when the
a main body Of our already depleted force
At this juncture Miss W-.whose
parents resided in the vicinity, came to
our rescue and offered to pilot the
General to a ford but short Distance
above.
This offer was gladly accepted, and
we crossed the stream in the face of a
battery placed by the enemy to inter-
rupt our march.
Forcing the passage, we compelled
the artillery to vacate their position,
and were soon in full chase, sweeping
aside small detachments left by the
enemy to retard our pursuit of the
| main force.
It now became of the most vital i'm
portance that we should close with the
enemy at the earliest moment, for our
command had dwindled down to mere
handful.
The enemy felt the necessity of press
ing on, and if possible to gain few
hours in which the work of destruction
might be completed. So he hurried on,
every short distance being marked by
spent horse or some other evidence
of his mad ride; while the route passed
over by Forrest was marked By dead
horses and-sleeping troopers!
Our force was now reduced to about
seven hundred men, and, if the chase
continued, we could not hope to reach
Rome with more than one-half of that
NUMBER force much too small to
cope with Colonel Streight's sixteen
hundred under ordinary circumstances.
no means Of learning accurately how
rapidly our force was being disinte-
grated; and we pressed ON, trusting
that o demonstration would be made BY
the militia, home guards, etc. (Which
we knew would repair to the defenses
in front Of Romeo, whereby the enemy
would be delayed until we came up
with him.
All this time scouts from Rome
warned Colonel Streight that he might
expect in his front hostile force of
some strength, no matter how made
quate it might be to do more than an
noy him; and he felt that it behooved
him to move with the utmost circum-
spection, for but small mistake now
would be the undoing of him.
In the meantime many of Colonel
Streight's command, singly and in twos
and threes, had been picked up at the
farm houses.
All Of them claimed inability to
"keep up," as there were no extra
horses with the command; and that
the country people had at last learned
of their approach, and had "run off
everything but few cows-and you
know, Captain, we can't ride cows"
These prisoners were left in charge
of such members of our own command
as could mot keep up nor ride cows"
we feeling assured that if our boys did
go to sleep, their prisoners were too
much jaded to attempt to retrace the
paths over which they had reached this
section of country, and could be picked
up on our return toward the Tennessee
River.
Colonel Streight was at last brought
to stand by the appearance Of for
midable array of en-at-all-arms in his
front, as we'll as heavy pressure by
our decimated troop in his rear.
Here General Forrest played one of
his boldest games; for. keeping his
force we'll in hand, he sent forward
flag and demanded Colonel Streight's
surrender; and upon receiving de-
murrer from the gallant Colonel, the
General gave orders for such DISPOSE
ton Of his imaginary regiments as
would completely surround the enemy
and cut off all hope of escape.
Believing that he was surrounded by
largely superior force, Colonel
Streight surrendered, and was escorted
into Rome by the remnant of General
Forests command, not more than four
hundred troops, all told.
Thus was daring scheme, brilliant
in conception, thwarted on the very
threshold of success. by a combination